This invention relates to personal health monitors and more particularly to an improved enclosure for personal health monitors.
A personal health monitor is a device used to measure and record one or more clinical parameters of a patient for later transmission to the patient's physician or other health care provider. The personal health monitor may be used in a hospital or clinical setting as an adjunct to existing care. However, the personal health monitor may also be used by the patient himself in his own home. When used by a patient in his own home, the patient operates the personal health monitor to record certain of his own clinical parameters for subsequent transmission by the personal health monitor to the patient's physician or other health care provider. The personal health monitor, therefore, may be used by the patient who has a condition requiring monitoring of one or more clinical parameters but who otherwise does not require the level of care such as provided by a hospital. In such a circumstance, the personal health monitor provides potential savings in medical costs involved with a hospital stay. A personal health monitor of the type considered herein is described more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,625.
The personal health monitor may include one or more test components, or sensors, a programmable computer such a general purpose personal computer, and an interface connecting the sensors with the personal computer. In the above referenced patent, the programmable computer is a laptop personal computer having a display screen, keyboard, CPU (central processing unit), disk drive, and a means for connecting to the interface such as through a port, expansion slot, bus or other means.
A program on the computer affords an interactive, user-friendly way for the patient to interact with the personal health monitor to measure one or more clinical parameters. For purposes of this application, clinical parameters include physiological parameters, (such as vital signs like ECG, blood pressure, temperature, and weight), medication compliance and volunteered patient replies. The program can be specifically tailored to the patient's individual needs.
With the sensors a patient can measure one or more specific physiological parameters. The interface connects to the sensors and converts the signals from the sensors for storage as data by the personal computer. This data can later be transmitted for review by the patient's physician or other health care provider, as for example by modem or transportable storage medium.
In accordance with the testing regime established by the patient's physician, the personal health monitor may be used on a specific schedule to conduct sessions to measure certain of the patient's clinical parameters following instructions provided by the personal health monitor. In the embodiment described in the above referenced patent, the personal health monitor includes a personal computer with a display screen portion that can provide instructions for conducting a session in which clinical parameters are determined. For example, the program on the personal computer can provide instructions for measuring a patient's blood pressure or ECG. In addition, the personal health monitor can also present the patient with a series of questions about his health and prompt the patient for responses. For example, the patient can be asked to volunteer replies in response to a structured series of questions (e.g., "Do you have a fever?" followed by "If so, is your fever continuous or intermittent?"). The personal health monitor can be programmed to sound a reminder to initiate a testing session and record whether the patient adheres to the established schedule.
The personal health monitor can be used to give the patient instructions for taking medicines and provide the patient with reminders to take medications. Moreover, the personal health monitor can allow a physician to readily modify a medication schedule. For example, based upon the physiological parameters gathered by the personal health monitor and reviewed by a patient's physician, the physician may decide to alter the medication.
As described in the above referenced patent, the personal health monitor may include means for data storage so that the clinical parameters measured can be stored as data. The personal computer may include a modem so that the data can be transmitted to a central station. The data transmission can be done automatically by a program on the personal computer. The physician or other health care provider can then obtain the information from the central station either by calling, downloading or other means of communication. Alternately, a health care provider may be able to access the personal health monitor directly.
An advantage of the personal health monitor is that a high level of patient surveillance can be provided, even with the patient outside of a hospital or other expensive facility. Thus, the personal health monitor has the capability of lowering health care costs while at the same time maintaining or even improving the level of patient surveillance. Additional benefits include being able to return a patient to his home environment sooner and also providing a means for involving the patient in his own health program.
In order that the personal health monitor is efficient and adaptable in design, modular components are used whenever possible. For example, for the programmable computer component of the personal health monitor, a general purpose laptop personal computer can be utilized. Such computers are widely available, reliable and provide many of the functions needed by the personal health monitor. As mentioned above, the display screen portion of the personal computer can provide detailed and easy-to-understand-instructions. Moreover, initialization of the personal health monitor and setup of the program on the personal computer can readily be accomplished by trained personnel with access to the keyboard portion of the personnel computer. However, a drawback with using a general purpose personal computer is that its operation can be altered readily by anyone with access to the keyboard. Moreover, a personal computer keyboard may be intimidating or confusing to some patients and thereby discourage them from using the personal health monitor as needed.
Another drawback is that the sensors for measuring physiological parameters and the interface adapted to connect the sensors to the personal computer may include a variety of components and wires that may be confusing and further intimidating to a patient.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a housing that contains the components of the personal health monitor system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an enclosure for a personal health monitor that prevents unauthorized access to programmable components.
It is still another object of this invention to provide an easy to use way to provide input to the personal health monitor.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a personal health monitor enclosure that includes compartments for one or more sensors, a personal computer, and the interface between the one or more sensors and the personal computer.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a personal health monitor enclosure structure that is easy to assemble and maintain.